Horn



Patented June '20, 1933 UNITED. STATES.

vPATENT orner.

nimm c. Kontron, or mammie, may numana. or immuno,r Naw 'You salentina 'ro moo raonucra oonrom'rxou, or narrano, maw von! HORN - appumaoimeapny u, im. man 1r. man.

This invention. relates to fluid operable horns and particularly -to horns of the general type disclosed inour application Serial No. 482,228,1i1ed October 3, 1930.

-Heretofore such horns havev been connected directly to the intake manifolds of the vehicles to which they are mounted so that suction maintaining in the manifolds may be effective to induce a flow of air from the 'atmosphere through the horns to create the eiect of sound. In certain ytypes of vehicles, such as 'trucks and buses, a sound note may be desired of which can :be pro uced by such suction as usually maintains in the manifold. .Y Such vehicles, moreover, are sometimes provided with means for compressing air to be used for operating the brakes or for other purposes, and it is desirable' to provide a horn which may beoperable by such compressed.

air.

ity of a horn operating by suction is superior to that produced by horns operable by fluid under greater-than-'atmospheric pressure, it

is a purpose of this invention to provide a horn having means for converting pressure reater-than-atmospheric into a pressure ess-than-atmospheric.

It is sometimes desirable to mountthe horn on the outside of the vehicle with the horn trumpets directed toward the forward end ofthe vehicle in order that the warning `sound may be directed toward traiiicto the front of the vehicle. When movin at a .35 high rate vof speed there -is a consi erable volume of air passing over"and about suchl a horn and it is desirable to take advantage of this air movement to increase the quantity of air passingthrough the horn, in order to 4, augment its tone intensity.

mospheric into a partial vacuum or pressure less-than-atmospheric at points adjacent the ``oscillatinfg or sound creating elements ofthe device. 'Means are providedgin association with the discharge orifice of theY pressure greater intensity-than thatv As it has been found that the tone quali,

:valve seats 18 adjacent to reduce the lback pressure in such line by reason of air assin over the elements due to motion of t e vehicle.

- These and other objects and advantages includin those arising from the structural relations ips and structural characteristics of the component parts of the device, will become apparent from the following descripytion of one typical embodiment of the inven tion,v reference being made tothe accompanying` drawing in which: i-

ig. 1 is an elevational view of a complete horn unit constructed in accordance with the present invention.' s

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the device shown in Fig.v 1, the

view lbein taken at right angles to that shown in i 1. Fig. 3 is central sectional view of the` portions of the devic shown in- Fig. 2,-being taken substantially a ong line 3-3 of Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 1 the device comprises a pair of spaced sound producing units 10 and 11 respectively connected to horn trum lts.

12 and 13. Each horn unit comprises a orward and a rearwardcasing section 14 and 15, respectively, which serve to house. a re-v ciprocatory sound creating element 16, the

latter being resiliently supported by springs 17, or like means, in such manner that the element 16 will normall be held against e openings v19 between the casing interiors and the passages of the trumpets 12 and 13. Y. f

In vthe illustrated embodiment the trumpets are secured in spaced relation at their ends bv a bracket cross member 21 disposed medially of their ends, being' held by a clamp ing member 22 which isbolted or otherwise secured, as for example by such means as are indicated at 23, to the member 21. A `downwardly turned flange 24' of the member 21 is secured to an upwardly extending flange of'a supporting member 25 which may be attached in any desired manner to the vehicle. Another bracket member 26 serves Ato-connect the horns vadjacent the sound boxes thereof and preferably comprises .a plate a second upwardly turned flan o f the supprting member 25, the plate avmg-a lpanl securedto y of spaced apertures which receive the trumpets being held in fixed relation thereto by abutment with the forward ortions of the casing sections 14 and with adJusting nuts l 27 which may be threaded to the trumpets.

It will be noted that the latter have forwardly extending annular flanges which serve to overlie and conceal threadswhich ma be 'formed upon the rearward portions o the l trumpets. s

A conduit 29, extends from lany suitable source of fluid pressure into an Xfitting 31, one leg of which is attached by suitable means, such as nipples 32, to the sound boxes 10 and 11. The terminal portion of the conduit 29 preferably comprises a discharge nipple 33, which extends partially through the interior 34 of the fitting 31, the interior 34 constituting an induced flow chamber. To the forward leg of the fitting 31 an exhaust conduit 35 is joined which preferably has its inner end 36 of conical form, reducl ing forwardly in diameter, the forward portions of the conduit 35 likewise being of con- 8B cal form but expanding forwardly as indicated at 37. It will be noted that the member 35 extends through an aperture disposed substantiallycentrally of the plate 26 and is held fixed thereto by a nut 38 which clamps Lhe plate against the forwardly extending leg of the fitting 31, the nut38 functioning in the same manner and preferably being of the same form as the nuts 27. A depen ing flange 39, formed on the clamp member-'22, v)referably com rises the mounting means for a bell or dis ed member 41, which is disposed adjacent the mouth of the member 35. In operation, the fluid under ressure will pass through the conduit 29 an will be discharged at high velocity from the discharge nipple 33 across the interior of the portion 36 of the conduit 35, which is a part of the induced flow chamber 34. The fluid will-exhaust from the mouth of the member 35 into f he bell 41 by which it will be directed rearwardly inthe direction of the flow of air passing about the device by reason of movement of the vehicle.

34 will be induced bythe discharge from the 'upple 33 to flow along with it in accordance with the well known principles of Venturi action, so that the fiud in the chamber 34 and the interiors of the sound boxes'lO and 11,'which communicate with thechamher 34, will be maintained in acondition of reduced or less-than-atmospheric pressure. When this ressure assumes a level substantially less t an that of the atmosphere within the trum t member 12 and 13, the latter 'will force t e valve members 16 inwardly, against the urge of the resilient members 27, ao that they will be displaced from their seats 18.- Air will thus pass into the sound box through the opening 19 in the sound box until the'pressure in the sound box becomes 10 and 11 will be interrupted at similar higl frequencies to create the effect of sound, t

Fluid in the chambersubstantially equalized with' that in the trumpets 12 and 13, at which time the resilient members 17 will a ain become effective to return the valves to t eir seats.

It will be understood that due to the high velocity of air flow the valves 16 will seat and unseat at extremely high fr uencies so that the fiow of atmospheric air rom the trumr pets 12 and 13 into the interiors of the unit e sound waves being directed outwardly through the trumpet passages. The fpassage of air by the device by reason of the orward movement of the vehicle will induce a fiow of air from the opening between the bell 41 and the mouth of the conduit 35, this draft being. of substantial aid inv inducing a flow of flui from the induced fiow chambers 34 and thereby serving to greatly augment the tone intensity of the horns. e

It will be noted that the air trumpets are of different lengths` the purpose of this being to providel sound chambers which will osclllate at different frequencies, the trumpets. being preferably so related that they will resound in harmony. In order to produce maxlmum tone intensity and insure harmonious tones of the horns, means comprising spiders 42 may be placed in the sou-nd boxes for abutment with the resilient members 17. The spiders are held in this osition by ad'usting screws 43 provided with suitable loc ing means and housing means. By turning the screws 43 different degrees of pressure may be applied to the resilient members thereby causing them to exert varying degrees of ressure against the valves 16 for holding the atter against their seats 18. In this manner it will be understood that the frequency of the valve oscillation may be varied and it is preferred that the adjustment may be such that the frequency of the valve oscillation will be in resonance with the natural vibrational frequency of the sound chambers within th'e trumpets 12 and 13.

It will be furthei` understood that the herein described embodiment is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention, which may be applied to other devices having different structural characteristics'.

What is claimed is:

1. In a Huid pressure operable horn for motor vehicles, a horn unit operable by suction applied to the interior thereof, asource of fluid pressure, Venturi means in communication with the source of fluid ressure and having an induced flow cham r in' communication with the interior of the horn unit whereby the pressure at the source-may be converted to suction for o erating said unit, and means associated wit the venturi for causing air Jassing about the Venturi means byreason o movement of the vehicle to aid in the inducement of fluid from said induced ilow chamber. p

2. In a horn, a horn unit operable by fluid pressure maintaining in the interior thereof, a source of Huid pressure, Venturi means having an induced flow chamber in communication with the interior of the horn unit, bracket means, and means supported by the bracket adjacent said Venturl means for causin air passing above the device to induce Huid rom the induced flow chamber.

3. In a horn device, a pair of horn units operable by fluid under less-than-atmos heme pressure in the interiors thereof, a enturi fitting joining said units and having an induced flow chamber in communication with the interior of said units, and a conduit extending from a source of pressure into said Venturi itting.

4. In combination with a vehicle, a horn device mounted on an exposed portion of the vehicle, said device comprising a horn unit operable by fluid under less-than-atmospheric pressure in the interior thereof, Venturi means having a discharge nozzle in communication with a' source of Huid pressure l greater-than-atmospheric and `having an induced iiow chamber in communication with the interior of said horn unit, said Venturi' means having a fluid outlet into the atmosi Share in a direction opposite to the normal irection of movement of the vehicle, and a bell disposed over said fluid outlet, whereby movement of the vehicle will induce a ow of $5 air from said fluid outlet to aid in the induction of fluid from said induced ilow chamber.

5. In a horn unit, a trumpet and a casing having an opening from the interior thereof into the trumpet, a valve resiliently support- 40 ed in said casing interior for normally restricting fluid passage throughthe opening, said valve being movable away from the opening when fluid pressure within the cas-V ing falls below the fluid pressure within the trumpet, and a passage between said casing interior and a chamber in said unit and means in said chamber con-nectible to a source of operating pressure for v.establishing a jet across said chamber to reduce the pressure in the passage and said casing interior to below atmospheric pressure.

6. In a horn apparatus for a movin vehicle, a sound box having an atmosp eric opening, resiliently supported valve means i-n said box normally restricting fluid passage through said opening andv movable to open when the Huid pressure in said opening exceeds that inthe sound box, a uid passageway extending from the sound box,

and means associated' with said fluid passageway, and operable by air passing thereabout by reason of the movement of the vehicle, for withdrawing air from said fluid passageway.

ERWIN C. HORTON. HENRY HUEBER. 

